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Thursday, March 18, 2010

I learned how to make cookie cutters, just in time to make myself a cute shamrock cookie cutter for St. Patrick’s Day!

Seriously this copper cookie cutter is so beautiful!

I showed you, in my last post, many things I used this for and gave you a list of many more things you can use cookie cutters for, other than the usual cookies!
Now I’ll show you how to make your own cookie cutters: Supplies needed are:
Roll of copper*, pliers, shears, printed design, eyelets, crop-a-dile II, measuring tape, tape

Use a tape measure to figure the length of copper needed (the circumference of your design), by measuring around your printed design.

When you are using this copper roll you should pull the copper from the inside of the roll so that it does not unravel.

Cut the desired length using metal shears.

You want to start and stop your design on the longest straight section of your design. This is because where you join the copper together it will be where you stop and start and you want it to be the easiest to fit the crop-a-dile into.
Use your needlenose pliers or pliers to start bending your copper strip. It bends pretty easily, especially for how strong the finished cookie cutter is and how well it holds it’s shape.

Please do not tease me for my manly hands. I swear the camera adds not just 10 pounds, but also masculinety to a person! ;) Actually that was my handy helper being a hand model for me. Some tutorials are too hard to take pictures of by myself! If you use needlenose pliers take into account that the nose part of these pliers is a diagonal edge and not a straight (perpendicular) one, so hold your needlenose pliers at an angle to make sure the bend you are making is straight (perpendicular to your long edge of copper). Otherwise your cookie cutter will not be flat when you set it down.
As you make your bends line them up with your pattern to make sure you are staying accurate.
Continue bending all the way around your design. I used objects that had curves the same size that I needed, to wrap the copper around for ensuring a smooth curve when necessary.
(How was that for a run on sentence?)
Once you have made your shape with your copper, secure it with a piece of tape. This will hold adequately.
I like to finish things off the whole way so I used my crop-a-dile to attach eyelets to secure the ends of the copper together.
I went through one layer of the copper at a time when punching the holes out. Then, I attached my two eyelets. Though in this case I am told they should be called rivets because this is metal we are working with and because of how we are using them. If you finish your cookie cutter off this way you are going old school like good ol’ “rosie the riveter”. This would be the skills you would need to build an airplane (the riveting part).

Now, tell me how cute this shamrock cookie cutter is! I have so many more ideas for more cookie cutter shapes now!
Rebecca

*I know I will be asked where to get the roll of copper from. I ordered it online from Basic Copper. This copper is made for making cookie cutters. Basic Copper's website says, "Both sides of the copper strip have been lightly treated so that the edge will be smooth against your hand when pressing the cookie cutter into the dough, but still sharp enough to cut the dough easily. Having both sides treated allows you to use the cutter in either direction to make the most out of your dough." So don't just use any kind of copper for this. Basic Copper is offering my viewers a 10% discount on your order of cookie cutter copper with them! How nice is that? Just use the code, 10offrw!

38 comments:

Hi Rebecca! LOVE this post! I happen to have a nice sized shamrock cookie cutter already, and shamrock cookies are a tradition at my house!! I can see so many other shapes that would be fun to make though! Thanks for sharing where to get the copper!.. I did look up the "crop-a-dile" and what I saw from Walmart was for scrapbooking/paper?? Did you use this same tool for the copper, or is there another crop-a-dile for heavier/tougher materials such as copper?... Hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day.. I am crazy busy lately, and am hoping to post SOMETHING sometime today, if I can find the time to! So glad that the weekend's almost here! ~tina

What a great idea and an awesome tutorial! I can't wait to try this. BTW, I get copper like that from my local Home Depot or other building centre. I used to find it at Michael's but here in Canada where I am, the selection at Michael's has now been watered down to pretty much just scrapbooking, jewelry making, a small basic art supply area, and a small yarn area. Others might be able to still find it at Michaels in the US as I know they carry more than ours does here.

Beansieleigh,I just figured everyone knew what a crop-a-dile was, even if they didn't have one. For all those that don't know it is a fantastic scrapbooking tool that can cut through so many different materials. It is also so much quieter than other tools out there to set eyelets. This tool easily punches through metal as well! Which is why it's perfect for this project. It can be found most anywhere that sells craft supplies.Cyn, I am not sure about getting the copper anywhere else. The copper roll that I used is perfect for making cookie cutters as the edges are treated so they wont cut you and they are the right strength to hold the design well and yet be easy to bend to make the shape. I personally haven't seen this particular stuff anywhere, but I'm sure many other places would sell it as well. I'm going to keep my eyes out now.

What a perfect cookie cutter you have made -- I love it! Thanks for sharing the step-by-step (though I probably won't try it as it looks too ambitious for me; somehow I have a feeling mine might turn out a cookie looking more like a puddle ;)). I came here from Beansieleigh's site, by the way, and am now eager to look around. Bye for now!

A long time ago, I made gingerbread house cookie cutters out of trimmed tuna cans (cut off the bottom as well as the top, then cut so I could resize them). I didn't bother to fasten them together, they just have abutting cut edges. I still use them...but now I want to make copper ones instead! Absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you SO much for posting this! I'm planning a Disney themed party for my daughter's birthday and I've looked at Disney cookie cutters. They're more than I'd like to spend on a rarely used item like a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter. It didn't take long before I was thinking "I wonder if I can make one?". And now, just as I was about to order the cookie cutters, I read this post! I am going to order the copper tape instead and make my own! Love it!

Adorable! ..and a great photo how-to! I hopped over from a "A Soft Place to Land" and am so happy that I did. Please accept my invitation to drop in at my place one day this week when you get a moment. until later...

ok I am seriously loving this idea. my only problem is that all these cute ideas out there are making my craft space to crowded. i have too many cute projects going on and this is one i would like to do

Just to let you know, right at the end of the loading cycle for this page, someone is hi-jacking the load to their own site and away from your page. So unless you stop the loading before it gets to that point (a few second between your page loading and it being hi-jacked) it'll never stop on your page. I hate cyber-criminals.

You may want to just solder it - I think that maybe easier & cheaper then using rivets. Craft stores sell soldering irons or even Walmart (cheapest $10 or less). Plus I think it would be less noticeable. The thing she used essentially is a hole puncher that will go thru the copper - if you go to Home Depot ask and they will show you where they are. But for usefulness- soldering iron I feel is more usefully and way cheaper. Can be used to fix or make jewelry - suncatchers, repair or make furniture / shelving or add decorative items that are metal to racks etc

Copper on that link provided is $34.99 for 10 inches - save time go buy more cookie cutters then you could make for less money! I love craft projects but makes no sense when costs way way way more then buying the item & item will be perfect instead of having pliers marks. It's a great idea just not using copper & rivets - copper non toxic paint - (just make sure paint is ok for food if using as a cookie cutter and not for decor ) or if for decor spray paint! $2

On the web site for the copper link above it has a DIY how to make these using solder but no solder iron just a BBQ lighter! So makes project even cheaper no rivets or hole puncher! http://basiccopper.com/how-to-make-copper-cookie-cutters.html (That's the instructions) way easier! But great idea if you don't use copper and use tin or another metal